


the efflux of the soul is happiness

by loveandthetruth



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Relationship Study, Road Trips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-06
Updated: 2019-02-06
Packaged: 2019-10-22 19:32:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17668730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandthetruth/pseuds/loveandthetruth
Summary: Ignis sighed “I’ve been attached to him since he was six years old, and somehow chaperoning his elopement was something I never conceived of.”“You know,” Gladio said with a wide smile, “you really should have.”





	the efflux of the soul is happiness

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ewagan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ewagan/gifts).



> Title from Walt Whitman’s [Song of the Open Road](https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/48859/song-of-the-open-road)  
> I mostly focused on the relationship study aspect of this request, but they’re on the road, and there are referenced matchmaking shenanigans from the bros, so I hope this fic hits all the right spots for you! <3

* * *

 

“Is this what it’s going to be like for two weeks?” Prompto asked, appalled. “”When are they going to have a chance to talk to each other!”

The three of them looked at each other uneasily, and then at Luna and Noct, which required looking in two separate directions, because they were standing at opposite sides of the hall.

They hadn’t been able to see each other before the formal treaty signing and after Iedolas and Regis had signed the treaty, Luna and Noct had replaced them in their respective seats, next to each other, to add their signatures to the document. Now formally engaged, they had barely had time to smile shyly at each other before being whisked away to be prepared for this not immodest dinner party.

Here as well they were found constantly talking to — or perhaps being talked at by — dozens of diplomats, nobles, or celebrities, instead of each other.

Gladio frowned. “I’m not sure I’d want them to be talking to each other in public like this either, with the press trying to hang on to their every word — you know Noct doesn’t do well in these situations. Still... I don’t like the idea of this tour before the wedding. They need time alone.”

“Surely there’ll be time set aside for them,” Ignis said, though he sounded doubtful. Thus far Niflheim had not notified him of anything more than the broad structure of their itinerary as they travelled through Eos.

“They should just elope and be done with it,” Prompto said wistfully, toying with his camera.

Gladio nodded absently, then froze for a second. He turned to Ignis, who said, slowly, “I don’t think... that would be a good idea...”

Gladio nodded again. “You’re right. We shouldn’t trust those two to work this out alone.”

“That means we’ve gotta go with them,” Prompto said, with palpable glee.

While Prompto had to restrain himself from punching the air, Gladio managed a more subdued smirk while he set down his empty glass on a passing tray.

“Come on,” he said, shepherding the two of them along. “I know what we need to do.”

Ignis sighed. “I’ve been attached to him since he was six years old, and somehow chaperoning his elopement was something I never conceived of.”

“You know,” Gladio said with a wide smile, “you really should have.”

 

* * *

 

Noct woke abruptly and confused and alarmed, to Gladio’s hands shaking him roughly, and his voice out of the darkness, “Come on, we gotta leave.”

Seeing that he was awake, Gladio pulled him easily to his feet and shoved some clothes at him. Noct got dressed, still confused and, now that the initial flood of adrenaline was leaving, foggy with broken sleep. He wondered if this was some kind of nonsense hazing the three of them had devised but was too groggy to complain just yet.

He followed Gladio out of the room without complaining either, somewhere between frustrated and curious, and stayed close while they both sneaked like thieves through the First Secretary’s estate, now and then ducking around corners and pressing against walls to hide from the occasional Imperial guard on patrol.

“Will you please tell me what the hell is going on?” Noct hissed after a few silent minutes, though he stayed crouching behind the wall.

“We’re kidnapping you.”

Noct stared at him for a minute but before he had a chance to ask what the hell that actually meant, Gladio was jogging the last stretch to the back gate of the estate, which was waiting open. Once Noct followed him through he saw the remaining two assholes, as expected, but was surprised to find his dad and Luna there as well. He stopped short, while Gladio, Ignis and Prompto went down the stairs with a couple of small bags.

“What’s going on?” he asked, a little more subdued this time. He wasn’t sure who he was looking to for an answer.

“Your friends are of the opinion that it would be good for the two of you to spend some time together — without being crowded,” his father said, looking between Noct and Luna. “I’m inclined to agree, so the five of you will travel together to Insomnia, where we’ll see you for the ceremony.”

Noct was embarrassed... and thrilled. He couldn’t think of a thing to say, but Luna gave him one of the small, sweet smiles she had been giving him all evening, a little happy and a little lost like him, being thrown together suddenly. She cocked her head in a _shall we_ gesture, and headed down the steps to the boys.

That left Noct looking at his dad, uncertain but too proud to show it, and Regis put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re both going to be just fine,” he said, and led Noct down.

 

* * *

 

In her hurry, Luna had picked up one of the bags that had been prepared for her by her dressers for the tour and, though she had picked the bag she knew to hold her least glamorous formals, she thought that perhaps sequins and lace and high heels were a little out of touch with her current circumstance. She looked up from the clothes laid out on one of the beds in the house at Cape Caem, to Ignis, and then to Noct standing in the doorway.

“Perhaps I could borrow something?” she said, a little wary. Noct wondered if she felt a little embarrassed at being caught off guard by the problem.

“I’ll take care of it,” Ignis said at once, and pulled along Noct along with him as he left the room and then the house.

Without explanation, Ignis pushed him to the passenger seat, got behind the wheel, and drove them out to one of the larger outposts nearby. This one had a clothes store that was several rungs below what Luna might be used to, but had a decent selection of quality smart wear, according to Ignis, who could generally be trusted to know these kinds of things.

Even so, it was with a little dismay that Noct watched Ignis pick up smart blazers and trousers and lots of black. Ignis must have caught his expression because he stopped moving and looked at Noct with a raised eyebrow.

Noct grimaced at being called to attention, and shrugged. “More white.”

Ignis looked at him steadily for a minute, before disappearing. He came back with a white shirt with black pinstripes, and a black blouse with big white flowers on it. Noct felt better about those, faintly hoping that maybe she would like the combination of Insomnia’s and Tenebrae’s colours, symbolic of something he didn’t quite dare to name. He nodded at Ignis, and after a moment’s hesitation, went to look around himself, picking up a pair of white slacks, smart dark grey jeans, and a skirt with a grey and black pattern.

Looking surprised and impressed, Ignis asked, “Anything else?”

Noct blushed then, a little, thinking of the sylleblossom flowers, and went looking for a blue top and, almost as an afterthought while passing by the jewelry, picked up a silver bracelet with squares of lapis strung on it.

As they moved towards the checkout, Noct hesitated, pulling on Ignis’s sleeve. “Are you sure... about these?”

Ignis held onto the clothes more firmly. “I think these are fine choices.”

Noct sighed and went to wait by the car, feeling jittery and anxious. When Ignis joined him, putting the bags in the back before settling into the driver’s seat, Noct admitted in a low voice, “I looked her up. Online. I looked up articles about her. I felt... like a creep. But I just wanted to know things about her.”

Noct folded his arm on the car door and leaned his chin on it, almost hanging his head out of the car as Ignis pulled out of the parking spot. There was a hand on his knee and a brief squeeze, and Noct sat up in the seat, though he kept his eyes on the rolling scenery.

“What did you learn?” Ignis said gently.

“She’s beautiful, and kind, and well spoken. Better than me in every possible way.” He wanted to say that he loved her too, even more than he had before, but he couldn’t make the words come out and Ignis knew it anyway, so he fell into silence for the rest of the short drive.

When they returned, Luna was delighted by her new clothes and when Ignis told her — to Noct’s horror — that Noct had made the choices himself, she beamed and thanked him. Noct had to go and excuse himself as she went to change into something, and sat on the front step, dizzy with all the beats his heart was skipping.

 

* * *

 

Moving discreetly was only really possible for a couple of days after reaching the mainland. It wasn’t as if they were a low profile entourage after the well publicised treaty signing, and within a few days their elopement was public knowledge too. After their second night in a hotel after leaving the house on the cape, Gladio was grumbling that it had been easier to avoid attention when they’d been camping out at the havens.

“I like that idea,” Luna said.

Gladio blinked at her. “You _want_ to camp?”

Luna didn’t need to fake any enthusiasm. Those havens were protected by the powers of Oracles past, and visiting them would be a wonderful experience, not least from a purely historical perspective. Gladio didn’t try to hide his pleasure either.

“Say no more,” he said, standing with a mischievous smile. “I’ll take care of this.”

So it was no surprise to her that two nights after that, they pulled up for the evening at Lambath Haven, ostensibly to show her the wildflowers nearby, and perhaps trek up to Ravatogh peak tomorrow. The second tent for Luna and Noctis, though, that was a surprise.

Ignis was quick to explain that there was barely space for four in one tent — three and one giant, according to Prompto — and it wouldn’t do for her to sleep alone. It smacked of a set up, though it made a lot of sense, and Luna found a pleased flutter of butterflies under her ribs as she focused instead on the faintly glowing runes of the haven grounds to hide her flushed smile.

When she retired to the tent, she found Pryna and Umbra already inside in relaxed, sleepy curls and she heard Noct pull Gladio aside.

“Just what exactly are you expecting me to do here?”

“Do what you do best, go to sleep.” It made Luna smile. When Gladio spoke again his tone sobered, softened. “Seriously. Just go to sleep, don’t worry about anything else.”

Noct mumbled something complaining that she couldn’t quite make out, and she settled herself down on one of the two bedrolls — a tactful gap had been set between the two —  nudging Pryna a little out of the way. Again that little flutter of excitement as she lay down and draped a blanket over herself. Even though she agreed with the idea of only sleeping, this was still a milestone that she found herself savouring.

The camp light was turned out, and the tent fell into darkness, save for the faint glow of the moon and the stars and the runes, and then Noct slipped quietly into the tent, lying down without preamble.

After a while he said, “I don’t know if I’m imagining it, but I’ve been sleeping better.” She thought to herself that it made sense, perhaps, given the fabled twinned nature of the Oracle and the King of Light. “I’m glad that you’re here — not because of that, but... I guess I’ve missed you, and I know we were just kids but…” He trailed off, uncertain.

“I’ve missed you too,” she said.

She wasn’t sure who reached for whom, only knew that they were holding hands then, across the narrow space between them, and the last thing she remembered before falling asleep was the thought that sleeping next to him for the rest of her life would be quite wonderful.

 

* * *

 

“Gladiolus—”

“You keep using my full name like that, I’m going to think you’re mad at me,” Gladio chided but, he smiled too. “You okay?”

“Well,” Luna paused, considering her words. “I wondered if you had any ideas of things Noctis likes to do, that maybe we could do together?”

Gladio cocked his head at her a little. “What Noct likes? Guess it depends what you’re willing to put up with.”

“I want to get to know him,” Luna said. She didn’t say that she was willing to put up with anything, because that sounded wrong, given that she didn’t see it as ‘putting up with’ in the first place.

There was that little smile again, and Luna was fast beginning to see in him as much of an older brother as Ravus, only perhaps more approachable. “Can you fish?” She shook her head. “Alright, we’re gonna get you to a nice little spot, then you’ll ask him to teach you.”

“He’s good at it?”

“It’s one of his only gifts.”

“That’s not true,” Luna said automatically.

Gladio turned to smile knowingly at her then, eyebrows lifted, and she had to blush, caught.

“You’ll see,” he said then, and Luna didn’t think she was imagining that he sounded proud, although which of the three of them he was proud of in that moment, she couldn’t guess.

The next day, they went to a pretty well secluded spot, where the sign said Daurell Springs, and Ignis said to Noct, “Why don’t you catch us something for dinner.”

Noct didn’t need more prompting than that, he only nodded and walked to the pier and whipped his fishing rod out of the ether. It startled a warm laugh out of her to see the power of kings used in such a mundane fashion, and after a moment, she followed him and sat down on one of the posts.

She watched him for a few minutes. He seemed entirely absorbed, and a little more relaxed than she had seen him before, shutting out whatever was worrying him by concentrating on the mechanics of the task. There was a tackle shop nearby, but it was empty.

Luna had to wonder if Gladio had arranged for the owner to take a day off. Looking back, she noticed that all three of the boys had disappeared, so she asked, “Will you teach me?”

He started badly at the broken silence, and then blinked at her. “Uh, sure.”

It took him a while to ease into it, first asking her what she knew, and then when she admitted that she knew nothing, wondering where to begin. He held out the fishing rod to her, and she let it rest in her open hands as he pointed out the different parts of it, and how it was strung. Then he showed her the lures — the designs of which delighted her, and when she looked up from rummaging in the box, she found him smiling warmly at her — and told her what fish they could find in these waters, and why they were using a particular lure to catch them.

It was perhaps the most she had heard him speak at once. The opinions she had heard about Noctis had ranged from his being a hermetic misanthrope to childishly shy. Having spent time around him now, she was inclined to agree that he was shy, but perhaps more anxious and troubled than childish.

He showed her how to cast the line out and lure a fish as well, keeping her hands steady on the reel and helping her land it with his arms around her, not ignorant of the closeness of their bodies but a little guileless, and she leaned back into him until he relaxed, little by little.

She was sure it was a tiny and unimpressive fish that she caught, but they were both glowing with pride by the end, and Luna found herself wishing a little that they had run away together long ago.

 

* * *

 

Ignis looked at her consideringly. “Are you sure about this?”

Luna nodded. “If people are going to see us, they should see us properly.”

So they stopped at a rest stop near the waterfall, having hardly set out for the day at all, at barely even ten o’clock in the morning, greeting and speaking to anyone who was passing through. Luna performed small healing favours for anyone who asked, and when Ignis asked her if she’d like to eat something soon, if she needed to keep her strength up for this, she thanked him and nodded.

She caught his arm before he moved away. “Do you think you could make something for everyone?”

“Certainly,” Ignis said, with a small bow. “I’d be honoured.”

Luna lost track of time after that, completely wrapped up in to the people who wanted her attention, the crowds growing rather than diminishing as the word spread that the royal entourage was here, until the little favours began to add up and she found herself with the all too familiar staticy feeling that told her that she needed to stop and rest.

She sipped a little water and rose slowly, mindful of dizziness, and headed towards the caravan where Ignis had said he would be, but not finding him. She soon learned that the manager of the store had volunteered their little cafe work area to the cause when he had learned what was going on.

“My apologies, Lady Lunafreya,” Ignis said when he saw her, looking up from the trays of canapes he was arranging. “It seems I’ve spent more time behind this counter than attending to you.”

“I think this is wonderful, and I’m well practised at this. You needn’t worry.”

“If only I could say the same thing about Noct.”

He looked out of the little circular window across the store, and she followed his gaze to see Noct sitting just outside playing a card game with a young boy. They looked entirely lost in their game, small pleased smiles on both their faces.

“I think it's better, actually. I heard he went to a school with other children, instead of being tutored at the palace?”

“That’s correct.”

“It suits him,” she said, with another little glance back over her shoulder. The boy appeared to have won, and Noct groaned theatrically and produced a small chocolate bar from his pocket. “He doesn’t talk to people like he’s a prince, like there’s a wall between them. I’ve been doing this kind of thing for years and I still can’t help but feel a certain... divide.”

Ignis made a sympathetic sound and nodded. “You’re aware that this is a duty for you.”

“Yes. And I cherish it, truly, but I think the reverse is true of Noct, that he feels the weight of the throne more than _this_. Here he’s just.... himself.” She paused, feeling like she was saying too much, but then continued because she meant all of it. “He might be a little clumsy or shy or rough around the edges, but that just makes him more authentic, doesn’t it? He seems like a normal person, talking to other normal people. Perhaps that’s as it should be.”

She became aware of several of the staff and visitors drifting a little closer, though they pretended to be very busy when she looked around. Her heart skipped a little, but she felt somehow braver for it.

Ignis paused and looked up at her, considering her carefully. “You love him.”

“Well,” Luna said mildly, “yes.”

She supposed it would go without saying, for them, that Noct loved her, having been with him most of his life. She knew that he loved her too. He might have been desperately shy, especially in the beginning, but his affection for her bled through everything he did.

Of course, that was the moment Noct chose to draw up behind her. He reached immediately for one of the canapes and popped it into his mouth. He noticed them watching him, and blinked at them in return.

“What?” he said, benign, with mouth half full.

Without waiting for an answer, he picked up two of the trays and began serving their guests, praising Ignis’s skills to them all the while, and Ignis and Luna exchanged small fond smiles, and Ignis nodded slightly, as if to say that perhaps she was right about him, and perhaps she was right to love him for it too.

 

* * *

 

The Citadel was a riot of activity when they arrived in Insomnia, nine days after they had left Accordo, and six days before their _official_ schedule had dictated. The days were long and busy for both of them, for Noct who was being prepared by Regis for the ceremony and the handover of regency, and for Luna who was learning the ins and outs of the palace where she would be queen.

Somehow, they still managed to find each other daily, as if drawn together by fate itself, and they found themselves willingly pulled into the preparations for the wedding and the arrangements for their royal apartments, where their opinions were constantly consulted.

It had been some time since Noct had lived here in the palace, and the prospect of moving back in with his wife was something that he couldn’t quite believe was real, even as Luna stood next to him in what would be their home, asking his ideas on the layout of the room, and directing the staff accordingly.

The days passed in a blur, and even the wedding was a haze of anxiety and commotion, until the day was reduced to a few moments in his memory: his father’s hand on his shoulder; the comforting presence of his brothers, at least one in his space at all times; seeing Luna in her dress for the first time; holding her cold hands and watching her cheeks flush warm; feeling his own smile, brimful of happiness until it was threatening to spill from him in tears.

Things slowed a little after that. The reception dinner took place in the Caelum Via banquet hall, with drinks and fireworks on the rooftop to follow, and there was much receiving of congratulations, much hand shaking, much said that Noct could barely focus on when Luna was standing arm in arm with him. It was a surprise to everyone, it seemed, when a silk banner — what Noctis had taken to be no more than some kind of draped decorative backdrop — slipped from the columns to reveal a wall filled with pictures of Luna and Noctis.

Stunned, they drew closer to the wall, investigating the pictures, many of which seemed to be from their elopement, and still more taken during their time together in the city, including their occasional forays into the streets after dark with Ignis, Gladio, and Prompto. They stood there for a while, marvelling at how happy they looked together. In not even one of these photos had they been aware that they’d been witnessed at all.

They both turned to the left at a flash of blond hair, but caught only a glimpse of a smugly pleased Prompto, who made a quick, exaggerated about face, whistling innocently, and disappeared behind the wall.

Luna turned back first, laughing, and standing arm in arm as they were, bumped into Noct. He leaned in a little, and then for a heartbeat hesitated, realising what he had been about to do, and where they were, and what if he shouldn’t. Then Luna closed the distance and they kissed, a little clumsy, both shy and nervous, and the cheers were drowned out by the sound of his own heartbeat, and the feel of her mouth smiling against his.

  



End file.
